Currie Cup result: WP edge Bulls in Loftus thriller

Western Province (and the Stormers) continued their dominance over the Bulls on Friday night when they edged their hosts at Loftus Versfeld 41-33 in a thrilling and hugely entertaining round two Currie Cup clash.

While Western Province only scored four tries to the five by the Bulls, visiting No 10 Kade Wolhuter was excellent kicking to goal and he slotted three conversions, five penalties and he scored a try for a personal haul of 26 points.

WP dominance

It was a second win on the trot for Western Province, who opened their Currie Cup campaign with a win against the Lions last weekend, also away from home.

And for the Bulls, it was a second straight defeat after they were beaten first-up by the Pumas last Sunday.

The Stormers (WP) also recently beat the Bulls in two United Rugby Championship games.

The Bulls though, while beaten on the night, will be pleased with many aspects of their play. They played with intensity and hunger and some of their handling was top-notch. They also performed well up front and in the set-pieces.

Director of Rugby at the Bulls Jake White and Currie Cup coach Edgar Marutlulle won’t have too much to moan about, except perhaps the poor discipline at times as well as some indifferent tackling.

As for the visitors, they were again worthy winners. They delivered a sound all-round game, even if they missed a few tackles, while they scored some wonderful tries.

Wolhuter steps up

The home team led 19-18 at the break after a ding-dong first half with tries scored by Sbu Nkosi, Cornal Hendricks and Zak Burger, while the visitors crossed through Paul de Wet and Wolhuter.

Western Province quickly cancelled out the Bulls’ lead at the start of the second half when Ruhan Nel went over, but two quick tries by the Bulls, by Johan Grobbelaar and Francois Klopper, saw the home team edge into a 33-25 lead.

But, with a bit more than a quarter of the match remaining, a stunning try by Clayton Blommetjies, after a sublime off-load by Jean-Luc du Plessis in the build-up, and three late penalties by Wolhuter, got Western Province over the line.